


Water's Sweet, but Blood is Thicker

by Coffeebles



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? - Fandom, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Blood, Gen, Gore, Murder, Other, Vampire AU, takes place before wkm, two bros hiding a dead body five feet apart cause they're not gay, vomit ew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-20 20:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13725537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffeebles/pseuds/Coffeebles
Summary: Some people say your best friend is the person who would help you hide a dead body. Damien always laughed at that statement, until the day William walked in on him cradling the corpse of his latest meal.





	1. Seeking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien swore to never feed on a human, but sometimes, the clawing in your stomach is too much to control.

It was a broken promise, but not to anyone in particular. First, there was a mild aching. The mild aching turned into a stabbing pain deep inside of him. Hours passed before he was knelt over on his office floor, clutching at his stomach, tears streaming down his face as he choked out sobs. Everything after that raw pain was a blur. He could remember his secretary dropping her folders and running towards him. He could remember pulling her neck towards his mouth before he even realized what he was doing. He remembered covering her mouth with his hand so no one could hear her scream. 

Ten minutes had passed, but it was more like ten hours. Damien was holding the secretary in his arms. She was cold, but still not as cold as he was. Blood had dripped onto Damien’s crisp white dress shirt, both from the gaping holes in her neck and the blood that had spilled out of his mouth. His sharp fangs were stained red with his sins. Even after the pain had gone away, he still could not ease his quivering lip and his violent shaking. 

He promised to never feast on a human. He promised to stick to drinking the rotten blood from his arm and the occasional small animal. Never a human, though--that would make it all too real. In that moment, though, starvation had overcome Damien. The thought of how disgusting and monstrous it all was made him sick to his stomach. At that moment, any humanity he had managed to hang onto had drained out of him, just as he had drained the blood of the body in front of him. 

There was knock at the door, and Damien was yanked out of his trance. He took in a sharp breath, his body tensing and his eyes going wide. 

“Damien, old chap?” Damien knew from the second he heard the voice that it was William. “You doing alright, cooped up in that stuffy office?” 

When Damien opened his mouth to reply, nothing came out. He was practically a statue, frozen in place by sheer horror. 

“It’s quite late,” William said. “You should come have dinner with us back at the manor. We’re celebrating Mark’s new role.”

Damien blinked a few times. His soul returned to his body, and the panic set deep into his veins. “I’m awfully busy,” he called as his eyes scanned the room for a place to hide the body. “Perhaps some other time?”

“Oh, bully,” William said. “You can take a break for one meal, can’t you? You work yourself to the bone.”

“The city needs me.” Damien’s best bet was under his desk. Even then, however, it would still be obvious if you looked close enough, and there was still the blood on his suit. 

“The city can wait for one damn minute.” William huffed a sigh. “I’m coming in.”

Damien’s heart dropped into his stomach. “No!”

“Why not?”

“I’m--” Busy? Changing? Drunk? “--reading Playboy.” Peachy. 

“Oh please, Damien, that’s a blatant lie.”

Damien opened his mouth to say something. He knew only mistakes would come out, but they were better than nothing at all. Anything to keep William out of that office was good enough. By the time the words rose to the tip of his tongue, though, it was too late. The door clicked open, and there William stood.

There was silence at first. All Damien and William did was look at each other. It was the calm before the storm. William’s eyes wandered from Damien’s face, down his torso, and to the secretary. All the while Damien’s stayed fixated on William. The only thing that brought him relief was how William had instinctively closed the door behind him. Now nobody would hear or see them. Besides that, the air was thick with tension. Damien’s stomach was in knots, and his heart was beating in his ears. It was as if he was falling--and perhaps he was. 

Damien took a shaky breath. “William,” Damien began. His voice was slow and hesitant. That was when it truly began. 

“What the hell,” William murmured. His voice rose. “What the  _ hell _ !”

“Will, wait, I can explain.” Damien dropped the body, and rose to his feet, taking a step towards William.

In return, William took a step back. “Stay away from me.” He was holding his own torso, as if he was trying to defend himself. 

“Please, it’s not what it looks like.” Tears were prickling in Damien’s eyes. 

“Oh, but it is,” William said. 

“You don’t understand.” 

“I understand that you’re one of those things. You--you’re a monster!”

The word “monster” was worse than silver against Damien’s skin. Damien had to bite into his bottom lip to stop himself from crying. “Let me explain.” He was practically on his knees. He knew how weak his begging must have sounded. It was all he could do, though. 

“How can I even know you won’t lie to me?” William was screaming now. Each word made Damien flinch. “I can’t trust you anymore.” 

That was when Damien raced across the room to where William was standing. He ripped away the Colonel’s arm to bring William’s hand to Damien’s chest. 

“Feel it,” Damien said. 

There was a moment of silence as William’s jaw gradually fell to the floor. “There’s no heartbeat,” he said.

Damien nodded. “There hasn't been for a long time,” he said. His voice was watery, and he could feel William tremble in his grasp. “Ever since university, I’ve been like this, but not by choice. I kept it a secret, because I never wanted to lose the ones I love.”

Their eyes met. Tears were slipping down Damien’s cheeks now.

“I don’t even know you anymore,” William said. 

Damien sniffled. “It’s still me, William. I’m the same Damien I have always been.”

“No.” William tore his eyes away, focusing his gaze on the floor. “The Damien I knew before was nothing like this. The Damien I knew wasn’t a murderer.”

“You’re right.” Damien gave a watery chuckle. “I never wanted to feed on a human, Will, I swear. I have no idea what came over me in that moment, but I didn’t mean it. I,” he broke down into sobs, “didn’t want to.”

William’s expressoned softened the slightest bit. “How did you eat before, then?”

“Small animals,” Damien said in between sobs, “or I would drink the rotten blood from my arm, left over from what my attacker never drank.”

William’s nose scrunched up. “That’s disgusting.”

“It satisfied cravings, at least.”

“Then what was different this time?”

“I don’t know.” Damien furrowed his brow. “I knew I was starving myself, but I thought I could hold out for just a little bit longer. When she walked in, I never even realized what I was doing until afterwards. It was almost as if I was in a trance.”

William looked over Damien’s shoulder at the secretary’s body. “When you bite a human, they turn into one too, right?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Damien said. He let go of William to wipe loose tears away from his face. “It will take her some time to wake up, however.”

William pursed his lips. He glanced around the room for a brief second. Without a word spoken, he walked towards Damien’s desk. He grabbed the slick, black cane leaning against it.

Damien quirked an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

William sat down in Damien’s desk chair. He twisted off the metal end at the cane’s tip, discarding it with ease. “Making a stake,” he said, pulling a pocket knife out of his jacket.

Damien’s face went white. “Are you--”

“I’m not going to kill you, Dames.” William glared up at Damien for a moment. He switched out the blade, and face the cane’s tip upwards. “I’m going to kill her.”

“What?” Damien’s voice cracked. 

“When she wakes up, she’s going to turn into a vampire.”

“So what, you’re going to kill her before she even has a choice?”

“Do you like being a vampire?”

The question threw Damien off guard. He swallowed hard. “No.”

William gave a slight nod. “I’m simply saving her by putting her out of her impending misery.” He had begun carving the end of the cane into a fine point. “Besides, if she does wake up, it will only cause more problems.”

“Then we have to hide her body.”

“That’s easier than having to hide someone who’s awake.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes as William shaped the cane into a wooden stake. Damien stood idly by, twiddling his thumbs and shifting his weight back and forth. He was no longer full enough to the point of wanting to vomit, and the metal taste of blood was fading from his tongue. His fangs had already retracted. Even in this more basic state, his thoughts kept screaming at him for what he had done. William whistled a fighting song as he worked. That helped distract Damien only a little bit. 

When William finished, he returned the knife to his pocket and stood up. He held the cane out to Damien. “Do you want to do it?”

Damien cringed. “I can’t even stand the thought of it.”

“Hm, understandable,” William said. “You might want to look away, then.”

Damien averted his gaze to a painting on the wall. It was of a blue vase with purple flowers inside. His mother had gotten it for Celine on her eighteenth birthday. She never liked it much, but Damien did, so he offered to take it. The painting reminded him of a better time; a time when he was normal. The corners of his lips tugged down into a frown as he heard William’s steps click against the wooden tile and then stop at the body.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me doing this?” William asked.

Damien nodded, his expression grim. “If it means she does not have to suffer like I have, then yes.” 

There was a soft hum of understanding from William. Damien clenched his eye shut, his hands curled into fists. Warmth was rising in his throat as if he might puke, but he swallowed it back. There were three painful seconds of silence before he heard the wooden stake penetrate the secretary’s body and hit the floor underneath. Though he knew it was not the end of  _ his _ worries, at least one victim’s story book had closed. Knowing she would not live the way he lived eased some of the pain in his chest. 

“Alright,” William said, “now for step two. Follow me.”


	2. Hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killing someone is one thing. Hiding the body is another.

By the time they got to their destination, the body was already beginning to rot. Her skin had turned purple and waxy, and her muscles were becoming stiff. William had found a bag to put her in, but that did not dismiss the smell. Damien glanced back at it every now and then. Every time he did, his stomach churned. He had stumbled out of the car before William could bring it to a full stop, falling onto his knees and throwing up his insides. 

The vomit was light pink, as it was a combination of his own bodily fluids and the blood he had hungrily gulped down. William finished parking the car as he cursed under his breath. He hopped out and walked around to kneel next to Damien. For a few seconds, they were silent, with Damien throwing up and William rubbing his back. 

“The smell get to ya’?” William asked.

“I had too much,” Damien said as he gasped for air. His tongue stung with the fowl taste, which was not helped by the dry air he was breathing. 

William shrugged. “Well, once you’re done getting sick, I’ll get ‘er out of the trunk.”

“You seem quite comfortable for someone lugging a dead body around.”

“You forget I was in the army.” William stood to his full height. The moonlight painted his shadow across the dirt. “This isn’t my first dead body and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t my last. Come on, now.” 

Damien swallowed back the bile that was threatening to come up. William held out a hand to him, and Damien took it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. As he brushed the dirt off his pants, William opened the trunk and pulled out the bag. Damien took this time to observe where they were.

They were right on the edge of a forest he had never been to. The trees were tall and leafless, with rough, dark-colored bark. Twigs and small stones littered the ground. A cool October breeze pressed against Damien’s skin. The chill would usually bother him, but he had worked himself up so much, he was as warm as an oven. Now, the cold brought him relief. 

He was brought back to the situation by William putting his hand on his shoulder. “Ready?” William asked. 

Damien thought for a moment before nodding. William handed him two rusty shovels, which made Damien’s still heart drop into his stomach. They began their trek deep into the forest. Damien held the bag and the shovels close to his chest. For the most part, he stared at his feet. Every now and then, however, he would glance up at William. William was humming a song from his time in the army just loud enough for Damien to hear. Something about how casual William went about this made it all the more surreal for Damien. 

“We’re quite far from any civilization,” William said. “Nobody ever comes here, and not many animals live her besides snakes and the occasional bird. Doesn’t even have a name. ‘Forest on the outskirts of town,’ people call it.”

“How did you find it, then?” Damien asked. 

“Just got curious one day. We passed it every now and then travelling between towns, so I came out on my own to explore.” William paused, glancing back at Damien. He set the body down next to a tree. “Let’s trade jackets.”

Damien quirked an eyebrow. “May I ask why?”

“Because yours is thicker and I’m cold.” William was already unbuttoning his tan jacket and slipping it off of his shoulders. “Besides, yours doesn’t button up all the way. I can see the blood on your shirt.”

Damien took a sharp breath before nodding. He eased out of his black jacket and handed it to William. As he buttoned up the Colonel’s jacket, he couldn’t help but watch as William put his on. It was the first time in a while Damien had see William in something sharp and clean. Most of the time, he wore his khaki army outfit, and if not that, then it was nothing fancy. It took a moment for Damien to adjust, but he knew the look would quickly grow on him. 

“Alrighty then,” William mumbled. He picked up the bag again. “Let’s move along. Wipe the blood from your mouth; it’s starting to dry.”

Damien wiped the blood away from his chin. A smear of light red was now barely visible on the Colonel’s jacket. It was a small detail, but enough to make Damien frown. As they continued to walk, it seemed to grow darker, and the trees seemed to become lankier. Everytime Damien looked out into the darkness, chills ran down his spine. He would open his mouth to say something, but then close it. Finally, he got over his hesitation, and spoke.

“Do you think I’m a monster?” he asked. 

“Yes,” William said. 

The light drained from Damien’s eyes. There was a lump in his throat, but he forced it back.

“That doesn’t have to be bad,” William said. 

“The definition of a monster is something wicked and terrible, though.” Damien’s voice cracked as he spoke. It made him feel small and weak. 

“Mm, I don’t think so.” William glanced at Damien out of the corner of his eye. “I think it just means something strange.” 

“Do you hate me?”

“I don’t know how you got that impression. You may not be human, but you’re still my best friend.” William smirked. “You were right. You’re the same Damien you were yesterday, just a little different.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Damien’s lips. If he had enough blood left in his body, he was sure he would be blushing. They continued to walk in silence, and Damien lost track of time. It was only when he heard the distant rushing of water that he was brought back to his surroundings. His nose was greeted by the fresh smell. It was not long before the source came into his field of vision. Thin, but running nonetheless. 

“There’s also a small creek,” William said. “Not much lives in it, but it’s still nice to look at.” 

Damien dumped the shovels onto the dirt, then stepped towards it, and knelt down besides it. He dipped his fingers into the ice cold water. It stung his skin, and sent sensations through his veins as if someone had dropped ice cubes down his shirt. He brought a drop up to his mouth. The water froze his tongue, but left a sweet taste behind. 

“Water’s sweet, eh?” William asked. 

Damien nodded. “But blood’s thicker.”

“Eh, I like to think that honey is thicker  _ and _ sweeter than both of them.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

William shrugged. “You tell me, honey.”

He set the body bag down next to a tree, then took one of the shovels from the pile. Damien glanced back at him, then at the creek, before rising to his feet. He grabbed the other shovel, his wet fingers sticking to the splintering wood. 

“Now, we dig,” William said under his breath. 

And dig they did. It seemed to go on for hours. Damien worried that the sun would rise, but the sky remained pitch black. His muscles ached, and his dress shirt was soaked with sweat. Not a single complaint left his mouth, though. He had done this to himself, and now he had to face the consequences.

The hole was six feet deep. They both threw their shovels up, then hoisted each other out. Both men were panting for breath as they looked into the hole they had made. William wiped sweat from his brow before grabbing the body bag. As Damien watched, his stomach tied itself into knots. He closed his eyes as William threw the bag into the hole. It landed on the earth with a thunk.

“Almost done,” William said, rubbing his hands together. “Now we just have to bury it.”

“Hiding a body sure is hard work,” Damien chuckled.

“Don’t kill someone next time, then.”

Damien gritted his teeth. “It was an accident, Will.”

“I know, I know.” William picked his shovel up again. “Just start shoveling.”

The process of covering the hole took less time, thankfully. Once it was filled, like a tooth cavity, they covered it with small twigs and rocks to make it appear untouched. For a moment, they both admired the work they had done. Damien glanced up, and realized the sky was a lighter shade of blue than when they had started. He swallowed hard. 

“We’d best be going,” he said. 

William nodded. They washed the dirt off their skin in the creek, drying off on their jackets before taking the shovels and walking in the direction they had come from.

“You’re going to need an alibi,” William said. 

“I’ll say that she quit,” Damien murmured. “She never quite liked her position, anyways.”

“If your maid asks about your shirt, tell her I cut myself and bled all over you while you tried to help me.” William twirled his shovel in his hand. His voice was calm--chipper even. He seemed to have forgotten how dark their situation really was. 

Damien eyed him for a moment before looking away. “I suppose I ought to thank you.”

“Damn right your oughta,” William said. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You do enough for me, Dames. It’s time I help you.”

Damien hummed in response. “And what about how I’m a…” He trailed off, biting his tongue to stop the word he hated most from coming out. 

“Your secret is safe with me,” William said. “If you’d like, I can bring you catches from my hunting trips so this doesn’t happen again. It’s certainly not something I ever thought I’d have to deal with, but your friendship means enough to me.”

Damien gave a small nod as the car came into his field of vision. The drive back to town was in silence, but there was an unspoken connection between them. It was as if a small weight had been lifted. For once, Damien’s skin was beginning to loosen, freeing his muscles of the usual tight discomfort. He may still be a monster. That did not have to be his only purpose, though. He would still have his best friend. The sun would still rise every morning.

He fell asleep leaning onto the driver’s seat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's only going to be two parts to this au because i don't really know what to do after this. maybe i'll write a prequel about how damien became a vampire if people like it enough. i hope you all enjoyed! :^) sorry it got so gruesome


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